Essex Castle 75 mile cycle

Definitely the hardest cycle I've ever done, and possibly the hardest sporting event I've ever completed. We got to Castle Park early for an 8am start, and joined the gaggle of cyclists for the off. There were lots more taking part than I'd expected, which was really helpful on the way round, though I think the majority of people opted for the 50 mile route. Those doing the 75 miles certainly seemed a lot faster and more experienced than us! I had been dreading the route, and it was actually even worse than I had imagined! It was 75 miles of constant hills; and not gentle slopes either; horrible, heavy slogs of hills. It didn't ever feel like you got a break to cruise along to wrack up some quick miles - every downhill was followed by a horrible uphill struggle, with very few flats. The route was undeniably beautiful; we cycled through some incredible scenery, but by the end I'd stopped noticing and just wanted to get back. I felt absolutely broken by the 50th mile, my legs had had it, and after that every slight uphill felt like a mountain! It was also unbelievably hot and though we did our best to keep our fluids up, it was impossible to stay fully hydrated. I think if I hadn't been so dehydrated, I would have cried. Despite regularly feeling like quitting, we made it round as a team, swearing and shouting our way up the hills by the end. Finally, finally getting back to Colchester was such a brilliant feeling, and Greg met us at the finish line (he'd done the 50 mile route) with a big hug.

We immediately went to the pub for a shandy and reconvened round ours in the evening for pizza. The night didn't last long though as we were all absolutely knackered!

Just the little fact of the 100 miler next weekend, then I'll definitely be reeling back the miles a bit!